UC-NRLF 


HF 

I7P4 
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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


- 


'^-L^ 

^   fUb  r     - 


sOu 


7? 


SPEECH 


OF 


MR.  JOHN  LSTROHM,  OF  PEM'A, 


ON 


THE    TARIFF. 


DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  U.  S-,  JUNE  25,  1846. 


WASHINGTON: 

PRINTED  BY  J.  &  G.  S.  GIDEON. 
1846. 


SPEECH. 


The  bill  reported  by  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  proposing  to  reduce  the  duties  on 
imports,  being  under  consideration  in  Committee  of  the  Whole — 

MR.  STROHM,  of  Pennsylvania,  obtained  the  floor,  and  said  : 

Mr.  CHAIRMAN  :  If  I  could  have  had  the  selection  of  my  own  time  to 
address  this  committee  I  should  not  have  chosen,  at  this  moment,  to  occu- 
py your  attention,  inasmuch  as  the  gentleman,  (Mr.  EWING,)  who  has  just 
taken  his  seat,  is  a  colleague  of  mine;  another  colleague  (Mr.  BRODHEAD) 
having  also  addressed  the  committee  to-day,  it  might  seem  as  though  we 
from  Pennsylvania  were  disposed  to  engross  too  much  of  the  time  of  the 
committee.  But  as  it  is  a  subject  of  paramount  interest  to  our  constituents, 
and  as  there  is  frequently  some  difficulty  in  obtaining  the  floor,  I  trust  I 
shall  be  pardoned  for  embracing  the  opportunity  that  is  now  afforded  me, 
although  it  may  seem  to  be  a  little  out  of  place. 

Sir,  the  deep  and  absorbing  interest  which  my  immediate  constituents, 
as  well  as  the  whole  people  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  feel  in  the  im- 
portant subject  that  engages  the  attention  of  the  committee,  must  be  my 
apology  for  obtruding  any  sentiments  which  I  may  entertain  in  reference  to 
it  at  this  time. 

In  venturing  to  do  so,  it  is  not  my  intention  to  enter  into  the  prolixity  of 
the  details  of  this  bill  ;  to  dwell  upon  its  bearing  and  effect,  upon  each 
particular  interest  therein  enumerated;  that  has  been  so  often  done  by 
hose  who  are  much  better  qualified  for  the  task  than  I  am,  that  all  those 
who  have  had  any  desire  to  understand  it,  or  have  paid  any  attention  to  the 
arguments  that  have  been  adduced  from  time  to  time  by  the  friends  of  the 
protective  system,  cannot  fail  to  be  fully  informed  in  regard  to  it.  Yet  it 
may  be  that  before  I  conclude,  I  may  advert  to  one  or  two  items  in  this 
bill,  for  the  purpose  of  calling  the  attention  of  the  committee  more  particu- 
larly to  them.  My  principal  object  is  to  take  a  general  view  of  the  protec- 
tive system,  as  a  whole,  as  applicable  to  the  people  of  the  United  Slates, 
its  operation  and  utility  in  different  sections  of  the  country,  and  the  bene- 
ficent influence  it  exercises  upon  the  interests  of  the  whole  community. 

I  am  aware,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  men,  when  acting  in  a  representative 
capacity,  however  wise,  and  learned,  and  patriotic  they  may  be,  are  still 
but  men — liable  to  be  governed  and  controlled  by  the  same  influences,  and 
actuated  by  the  same  motives,  that  individuals  are;  liable  to  be  influenced 
by  their  passions,  by  their  feelings,  by  their  interests,  and  not  unfrequently, 
I  fear,  by  their  prejudices,  rather  than  by  the  maxims  of  sound  wisdom 
and  true  philosophy — sustained  as  those  may  be  by  the  salutary  lessons  of 
practical  experience.  And  if,  in  the  few  remarks  which  it  is  my  intention 
to  submit  to  this  committee,  I  shall  fail  to  convince  those  who  will  deign 
to  lend  me  their  attention  for  a  few  minutes,  that  the  protective  system  is 
.mutually  beneficial  to  all  and  every  part  of  the  country,  it  must  be  attri- 


tilted  to  the  strength  and  inveteracy  of  their  prejudices,  or  of  my  inabilit 
to  do  justice  to  the  subject,  rather  than  to  any  want  of  intrinsic  merit  in  tli 
subject  itself. 

Sir,  the  question  now  under  consideration  relates  to  the  levying  of  di 
ties  upon  foreign  imports,  connected  with  the  means  of  raising  revem: 
and  giving  protection  to  American  industry.  In  a  country  so  widely  e: 
tended  as  that  which  it  is  our  good  fortune  to  inhabit,  embracing  so  great 
diversity  of  climate.,  and  such  an  almost  infinite  variety  of  soil,  and  oth< 
natural  advantages,  it  can  hardly  be  expected  that  any  system  of  publ 
policy,  calculated  to  operate  upon  the  interests  of  the  whole  country,  hov 
ever  wisely  it  may  be  designed,  or  carefully  and  judiciously  arranged,  ca 
be  made  subservient  to  the  special  interests  of  the  people  of  each  localit] 
so  as  to  develope  all  their  resources,  and  foster  and  cherish  each  Individ ui 
interest,  incident  to  their  location.  But,  as  in  the  first  formation  of  civilize 
society,  individuals  had  to  yield  a  portion  of  that  unrestrained  liberty  whic 
they  had  previously  enjoyed,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  security  an 
protection  to  their  persons  arid  their  property;  so  in  establishing  and  protec 
ing  the  varied  and  diversified  interests  of  this  great  community  of  nation: 
(if  I  may  be  permitted  to  use  the  expression,)  each  must  be  content  1 
suffer  some  little  abridgement  of  privileges  heretofore  enjoyed,  to  endui 
some  slight  inconvenience,  to  make  some  sacrifice  for  the  purpose  of  procu 
ing  a  greater  and  more  universal  good. 

Since  the  first  organization  of  this  Government,  the  moneys  necessary  I 
defray  the  ordinary  expenditure  thereof  have  been  derived  principally  froi 
the  duties  on  imports;  so  firmly  has  this  become  established  as  the  settle 
policy  of  the  country,  that  none  would  now  think  of  abandoning  it.  Bi 
^whilst  the  constitutional  power  as  well  as  the  expediency  of  raising  revenu 
by  imposing  duties  on  foreign  importations  is  admitted,  an  attempt  is  no1 
made  to  withdraw  the  fostering  care  of  government  from  the  protections 
our  infant  manufactures,  by  refusing  to  make  any  discrimination  in  favor < 
those  interests  in  the  imposition  of  duties  on  foreign  imports. 

A  system  of  horizontal  duties,  imposing  an  equal  amount  upon  all  art 
cles  in  proportion  to  their  value,  was  for  a  time  advocated  and  insisted  o 
as  the  only  constitutional  mode  of  raising  revenue.  That  seems  howeve 
to  be  nearly  abandoned,  and  we  hear  but  little  said  about  it  now.  Detr 
mental  as  such  a  course  of  policy  must  have  been  to  many  branches  of  01 
domestic  industry,  it  was  sustained  by  an  appearance  of  sincerity,  that  corr 
manded  some  respect,  even  from  those  who  understood  the  fallacy  of  th 
argument,  and  foresaw  the  destructiveness  of  its  tendency;  but  it  we 
reserved  for  the  present  Administration  to  propose  and  advocate  a  tariff  ( 
duties,  in  which  the  principles  of  discrimination  is  not  only  fully  recoj; 
nised,  but  freely  exercised;  not  however,  as  has  heretofore  uniformly  bee 
the  case  where  discrimination  was  exercised  at  all,  for  the  purpose  of  aflbrc 
ing  protection  to  American  industry,  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  th 
American  laborer,  to  give  a  stimulus  and  an  impulse  to  the  ingenuity  an 
enterpiize  of  our  own  citizens;  but  with  a  studied  effort,  and  a  perseveranc 
•worthy  of  a  better  cause,  discrimination  in  almost  every  instance  in  the  bi 
now  under  consideration  is  calculated  to  operate  against  the  interests  of  01 
own  countrymen,  and  has  a  tendency  to  depress  the  American  laborer,  an 
reduce  him  to  a  level  with  the  tax-ground  victims  of  European  monarch 


5 

and  tyranny,  who  are  compelled  to  labor  incessantly  for  the  purpose  of 
procuring  a  bare  sufficiency  of  coarse  food  to  sustain  their  almost  famishing 
families. 

The  denial  of  the  constitutional  right  to  make  discrimination  in  favor  of 
the  American  manufacturers,  in  levying  duties  upon  foreign  imports,  might 
be  tolerated  as  the  unmitigated  error  of  a  perverted  judgment,  as  a  policy 
calculated  to  favor  the  interests  of  some  sections  of  the  country,  as  a  policy 
that  has  always  been  contended  for  by  one  class  of  our  politicians;  but  to 
exercise  the  power  of  discrimination  for  the  purpose  of  oppression,  to  pro- 
duce embarrassment  and  distress  amongst  those  whose  lot  it  is  to  "earn  their 
bread  in  the  sweat  of  their  brow;"  for  Government  to  use  the  power  which 
a  confiding  people  have  entrusted  into  its  hands,  for  the  purpose  of  injuring" 
those  whom  it  is  in  duty  bound  to  protect,  is  approaching  a  depth  of — (I  had 
almost  said  infamy,  Mr.  Chairman,  but  I  shall  refrain  from  using  a  term  that 
might  be  considered  harsh;)  but  such  an  exercise  of  the  powers  of  govern- 
ment, to  say  the  least  of  it,  is  approaching  a  depth  of  ingratitude  that  no 
generous  mind  would  be  willing  to  encounter,  and  which  the  present  Ad- 
ministration will  have  the  honor  of  being  the  first  to  fathom ,  if  it  persists 
in  the  measures  that  have  been  recommended. 

I  have  said,  sir,  that  in  the  adjustment  of  any  system  of  duties  on  im- 
ports, whether  upon  the  principle  of  protection  to  our  domestic  manufac- 
tures, for  revenue  only,  or  for  destruction  to  the  interests  of  the  country ? as 
in  the  present  bill,  inequalities  will  always  be  experienced,  and  sacrifices 
must  be  made;  and  the  bill  now  on  your  table  -is  by  no  means  free  from, 
those  objections.  It  becomes  our  duty,  then,  to  ascertain  which  of  those 
systems  makes  the  nearest  approach  to  perfection,  and  is  productive  of  the 
least  inconvenience  to  those  whose  interests  are  to  be  thereby  affected;  or, 
in  other  words,  which  will  produce  "the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  num- 
ber."  That  I  believe  is  the  fashionable  and  democratic  mode  of  expressing 
the  sentiment. 

Let  us  first  examine  the  probable  effects  of  this  bill,  in  case  it  should  be 
passed  into  a  law,  which  I  trust  it  never  will.  But,  for  sake  of  the  argu- 
ment, let  us  suppose  it.  possible  that  such  a  bill  could  receive  the  sanction  of 
a  majority  of  this  House,  and  a  majority  in  the  other  branch  of  the  Legis- 
lature, for  then,  I  take  it,  there  would  be  no  doubt  but  it  would  receive  the 
signature  of  the  Executive;  there  is  no  hope  of  its  progress  being  arrested 
there.  Suppose  then  itshould  become  a  law,  what  would  be  its  effect?  Sir, 
first,  in  the  train  of  evils  which  inevitably  would  follow,  we  should  have 
the  prostration  of  our  domestic  manufactures — thousands  of  those  who  are 
engaged  in  that  branch  of  business  would  be  thrown  out  of  employ — want 
of  employment  on  the  part  of  the  husband,  would  soon  lead  to  a  want  of 
comfort  in  the  family;  and,  finally ,  not  only  the  comforts  and  conveniences, 
but  the  necessaries  of  life  would  be  found  to  be  lacking.  Sad  experience 
\voiild  then  teach  the  poor  laborer  that  although,  under  this  much  lauded 
free-trade  system,  he  wpuld  be  exempt  from  the  payment,  on  some  articles, 
of  from  an  hundred  to^an  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  per  cent,  duty, 
according  to  the  theory  of  Sir  Robert  Walker,  the  prices  on  the  aggregate 
would  be  little,  if  any ,  diminished,  whilst  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  the 
wherewithal  to  purchase  would  be  increased  in  a  fourfold  mtio;  and  his  con- 
dition; altogether }  would  be  much  worse  than  it  was  before. 


6 

In  the  next  place ,  we  should  have  the  loss  of  millions  of  capital  now  in- 
vested in  manufactures.  That  description  of  property  would  be  greatly  de- 
preciated, much  of  it  rendered  entirely  useless,  and  many  public  spirited,, 
industrious,  and  enterprising  men,  who  have  invested  their  all,  even  their 
credit,  in  the  establishment  of  those  highly  useful  improvements,  and  though 
somewhat  involved,  are  now  in  a  fair  way  to  pay  their  debts  and  make  some 
provision  for  educating  and  maintaining  their  families,  would  be  reduced  to 
bankruptcy,  their  business  ruined,  and  their  prospects  blighted  forever. 
Well,  sir,  how  fares  the  agriculturist — the  farmer — ;under  this  new  order  of 
things?  About  to  introduce  a  system  so  injurious  to  the  other  great  classes 
of  the  community — the  manufacturer,  the  mechanic,  and  the  laborer — per- 
haps it  will  commend  itself  by  the  superior  advantages  which  it  extends  ta 
this  numerous  and  respectable  class  of  the  community — the  agriculturists. 
This,  indeed,  is  the  main  argument  on  which  the  friends  of  this  bill  seem 
to  rely.  They  tell  you  that  the  tariff  of  '42  gives  to  the  manufacturer  more 
protection  than  he  is  entitled  to,  while  it  operates  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
farmer,  and  they  wish  to  repeal  it  for  the  purpose  of  equalizing  the  burdens. 
And  in  undertaking  to  investigate  this  part  of  the  subject,  we  are  met  upon, 
the  threshold  by  the  exulting  cry  of  a  repeal  of  the  corn  laws!  A  free 
market  for  our  surplus  produce!  And  this,  sir,  is  reiterated  with  such 
a  triumphant  air,  that  we  are  almost  compelled  to  believe  that  there  is 
really  something  in  it.  A  moment's  reflection,  however,  reminds  us,  that 
the  British  market,  if  opened  at  all,  will  be  open  to  all  the  world  as 
well  as  to  us;  and,  as  a. portion  of  the  finest  wheat  growing  countries 
on  the  globe  is  more  convenient  to  England  than  we  are,  the  American 
farmer  will  find,  that  by  the  time  he  gets  his  wiieat  or  his  flour  to  Eng- 
land, the  inhabitant  of  the  coasts  of  the  Black  sea  and  the  Baltic  will 
have  been  there  before  him;  the  merchants  of  Dantzic,  Odessa,  and  Ham- 
burg, will  have  anticipated  him;  and,  under  the  superior  advantages  of 
cheapness  of  labor  and  convenience  to  market,  will  have  supplied  the 
demand  before  he  arrives,  at  prices  too  that  he  could  not  afford  to  sell 
for;  and  he  will  then  discover  that,  as  my  friend  from  Vermont  (Mr.  COL- 
LAMER)  stated  yesterday,  " there  is  something  else  than  the  duty  that  regu- 
lates the  price  of  a  commodity" — it  is  the  demand  for  the  article  that  gov- 
erns the  price;  and  when  the  demand  is  supplied,  he  will  find  no  sale  for 
his  produce,  duty  or  no  duty.  But  I  will  not  expatiate  on  this  part  of  the 
subject;  this  has  been  fully  explained  by  some  of  those  who  have  pre- 
ceded me. 

But,  Mr.  Chairman,  suppose  we  admit  that  the  price  of  grain  will  be 
somewhat  enhanced,  the  benefit  thus  accruing  to  the  farmer  will,  in  the 
eyes  of  the  impartial  legislator,  be  more  than  overbalanced  by  the  imposition 
of  greater  burdens  upon  the  laborer;  having  first  cut  off  his  employment ^ 
you  next  increase  his  expenses  by  raising  the  price  of  his  bread.  But  1  con- 
tend that  the  farmer  is  not  benefitted  by  such  a  condition  of  things.  And 
why?  Because,  by  destroying  the  manufacturer,  you  deprive  the  farmer  of 
his  best,  indeed  his  only  market,  for  much  of  the  production  of  his  farm. 
The  American  farmer  does  not  live  by  wheat  and  corn  only.  He  wants  a 
market  for  his  barley,  his  oats,  his  hay,  his  wool,  his  poultry,  his  potatoes, 
his  fruit,  his  vegetables,  his  butter,  his  wood,  bark,  hides,  and  an  hundred 
Other  things  that  might  be  enumerated,  if  time  would  permit,  and  for  which _, 


unless  he  finds  a  market  in  his  own  immediate  vicinity — a  home  market — he 
can  realize  little  or  nothing  at  all.  Nay,  more;  in  the  employment  he  finds 
for  his  team,  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  furnace,  a  forge,  or  a  factory,  at  times 
when  he  has  but  little  for  his  cattle  to  do  at  home,  he  is  frequently  enabled 
to  earn  more  money  in  one  week  than  all  the  duty  he  pays,  under  your 
high  protective  tariff,  will  amount  to  in  a  year. 

Who,  then,  is  to  be  benefitted  by  this  new  system  of  policy?  I  have 
shown  that  neither  the  farmer,  the  manufacturer,  the  mechanic,  or  the  la- 
borer, will  derive  any  advantage  from  it;  but,  on  the  contrary,  each  and  all 
of  them  will  be  very  materially  and  seriously  injured  by  the  adoption  of  it. 
Who,  then,  I  ask  again,  is  to  be  benefitted  by  it  ?  Allow  me  to  tell  you, 
sir.  The  importing  merchants,  many  of  whom  are  foreigners,  and  have 
no  sympathy  with  our  citizens,  except  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  their 
money;  no  affection  for  your  Government,  except  to  court  its  favors,  with 
the  view  of  promoting  their  own  selfish  views.  The  men  who,  if  I  mis- 
take not,  have  their  hired  emissaries  at  the  seat  of  your  Government;  aye, 
within  the  walls  of  your  Capitol;  exhibiting  their  gaudy  and  Hi msy  .fabrics; 
and,  by  misrepresentation  and  deception,  endeavoring  to  mislead  the  judg- 
ment of  those  upon  whom  the  decision  of  this  great  question  devolves. 

Sir,  if,  in  the  exuberance  of  our  philanthropy,  we  extend  our  sympathy 
beyond  the  rolling  billows  of  the  broad  Atlantic,  and  seek  to  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  the  liege  subjects  of  her  Britannic  Majesty,  Queen  Victoria*,  at  the 
expense  of  our  own  citizens,  we  shall  find  some  excuse  for  the  extraordinary 
character  of  this  bill.  Yet,  even  then,  a  slight  examination  will  convince 
us  that  our  charity  is  misapplied,  and  that  those  who  most  need  it  will  be 
the  last  to  receive  the  benefit  of  it.  The  poor  operatives  in  England  have, 
by  a  long  series  of  oppression,  been  reduced  to  the  lowest  depth  of  misery 
which  human  nature  can  endure.  They  are  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the 
rich  capitalists,  who  allow  them  just  such  wages  as  will  enable  them  to 
sustain  their  families  in  a  mode  of  living — far  inferior  to  any  thing  that  peo- 
ple in  this  country  are  accustomed  to — barely  to  keep  them  out  of  the  parish 
workhouse,  and  prevent  them  from  becoming  a  charge  on  the  parish.  And 
so  dense  is  the  population,  so  numerous  that  class  of  people  there,  that  al- 
most any  number  of  workmen  can  be  obtained,  by  giving  them  regular  and 
constant  employment,  without  any  material  increase  of  wages;  and  nine- 
tenths  of  the  actual  benefit  which  you  are  about  to  confer  on  the  English  > 
as  a  nation,  by  the  passage  of  this  bill,  (and  it  is  no  trifling  boon,)  instead 
of  enuring  to  the  advantage  of  the  poor,  will  be  conferred  on  those  whose 
wealth  is  already  immense,  and  whose  capital  is  employed  to  our  injury; 
and  thus  you  are  oppressing  the  honest  laborers  in  your  own  country,  to 
augment  the  overgrown  fortunes  of  the  English  aristocracy.  Such  an  ex- 
ercise of  philanthropy  will,  I  fancy;  meet  but  little  response  in  American 
bosoms,  and  redound  but  slightly  to  the  honor  and  the  fame  of  the  projec- 
tors and  abettors  of  this  suicidal  anti  American  policy. 

Mr.  Chairman,  having  thus  glanced  at  the  pernicious  and  injurious  ter>. 
dency  of  the  bill  now  before  us,  I  shall  proceed,  briefly,  to  point  out  some- 
of  the  benefits  and  advantages  of  the  protective  system.  Next  to  providing1 
security  for  the  persons  and  property  of  its  citizens,  and  guaranteeing  to  each 
individual  that  liberty,  both  civil  and  religious,  which  was  purchased  by  the 
valor,  and  the  treasure,  and  the  blood  of  our  ancestors,  and  bequeathed  to  vis 


as  an  inalienable  birthright,  it  is  the  duty  of  Government  to  foster  and  cherish, 
by  every  means  in  its  power,  those  great  leading  interests  that  are  calculated 
to  render  us  entirely  independent  of  other  nations,  and  particularly  such  as 
are  essential  to  the  national  defence. 

The  sentiment,  that  peace  is  the  time  in  which  to  prepare  for  war,  has 
been  so  frequently  adverted  to  here,  and  the  correctness  of  that  sentiment  is 
so  universally  admitted,  that  it  requires  no  justification  at  my  hands.  But 
though  all  admit  the  truth  and  force  of  the  sentiment,  a  great  diversity  of 
opinion  may  obtain  in  regard  to  the  proper  application  of  it.  A  nation,  in 
order  to  prosecute  a  war  with  vigor  and  effect,  will  be  under  the  necessity  of 
bringing  into  requisition  a  great  many  things  besides  the  active  physical 
force  that  marches  into  the  battle-field,  or  the  fortifications  that  are  erected 
to  defend  particular  situations,  and  check  the  onward  march  of  a  hostile  foe. 
Money  is  said  to  be  the  sinews  of  war,  and  without  a  copious  supply  of  this 
necessary  ingredient,  no  civilized  nation  can  wage  war  long.  Yet  no  one 
will  recommend  the  hoarding  of  vast  treasures  in  time  of  peace,  to  be  kept 
in  readiness  for  the  emergency  of  war.  It  is  contrary  to  the  genius  of  our 
Government  to  collect  money  from  its  citizens,  by  either  direct  or  indirect 
taxation,  for  the  purpose  of  accumulating  large  sums  of  money  that  are  to 
lie  idle  and  useless  in  the  Treasury  until  the  exigency  of  war  should  call  it 
into  active  circulation.  The  corrupting  influence  of  such  a  treasure  would 
be  more  dangerous  to  the  morals,  and  prejudicial  to  the  interests,  of  the 
country,  than  even  war  itself.  Hence  it  is  not  the  policy  of  this  country  to 
prepare  for  war  by  laying  up  large  amounts  of  money  in  time  of  peace. 

In  the  next  place,  troops  are  indispensably  necessary  in  the  prosecution  of 
a  war,  yet  no  one  will  admit  the  propriety  of  maintaining  a  large  standing 
army  in  time  of  peace.  War  between  civilized  nations  is  an  event  of  such 
rare  occurrence  in  our  day,  that  it  would  be  consummate  folly  to  incur  the 
expense  of  keeping  up  a  large  army,  when  there  is  no  earthly  prospect  of 
their  services  being  required.  The  intervals  of  peace  are  so  extended,  that 
your  soldiers  might  become  old,  infirm,  superannuated,  and  helpless,  with- 
out being  called  upon  to  face  the  enemy  in  battle  array. 

To  say  nothing  of  the  danger  to  the  republic  from  the  constant  presence 
of  a  large  armed  force,  the  mass  of  whom  would  be  accustomed  to  yield  im- 
plicit obedience  to  their  superiors,  and  in  time  rendered  willing  slaves  to  im- 
perative commanders,  and,  finally,  might  become  subservient  instruments 
in  the  hands  of  designing  men  to  subvert  those  liberties  they  were  designed 
to  protect.  To  say  nothing  of  those  considerations,  which  sagacious  states- 
men ought  not  to  overlook,  the  expense  alone  of  maintaining  a  large  stand- 
ing army  would  be  an  insuperable  objection  to  this  mode  of  providing  for 
war  in  time  of  peace. 

How,  then,  ought  this  maxim  of  providing  for  war  in  time  of  peace  to  be 
complied  with? 

Sir,  by  pursuing  a  course  of  policy  in  time  of  peace  that  will  fully  de- 
velope  all  the  sources  of  the  country,  and  at  the  same  time  promote  the 
prosperity  and  well-being  of  its  citizens.  Encourage  and  protect  your  do- 
mestic manufactures,  so  that  in  case  war  should  become  inevitable,  and  our 
communication  with  other  countries  be  interrupted  or  entirely  cut  off,  your 
citizens  can  be  furnished  with  every  thing  that  they  have  been  accustomed 
to  enjoy,  by  the  enterprize  and  industry  of  their  own  countrymen.  It  ia 


9 

not  only  the  soldier,  who  buckles  on  his  armor  and  perils  his  life  in  the  bat- 
tle-field, that  suffers  during  a  time  of  war;  the  privations  which  he  suffers, 
the  dangers  which  he  encounters,  the  hardships  he  undergoes,  the  fatigue 
he  endures .  and  the  sacrifices  he  makes,  are  infinitely  greater  than  those  of 
any  other,  I  admit;  but  every  man,  aye,  and  every  woman,  too,  however  ex- 
alted their  station,  or  humble  their  condition,  will  experience  its  desolating 
effects.  Some  in  the  derangement  of  their  business,  others  in  the  depriva- 
tion of  luxuries  long  accustomed  to;  some  in  the  onerous  burdens  which  it 
imposes,  others  in  the  enhancement  of  the  prices  of  the  necessaries  of  life. 
All,  all,  are  affected  by  it,  and,  not  unfrequently,  each  fancies  himself  the 
greatest  sufferer.  Under  a  government  like  ours,  where  public  opinion  ex- 
ercises so  potent  an  influence  in  the  councils  of  the  nation,  it  becomes  pecu- 
liarly necessary  to  consult  the  interests  and  provide  for  the  comforts  of  the 
whole  people ;  and  if  they  find  those  interests  disregarded  or  neglected  by 
those  who  have  the  administration  of  the  Government  in  their  hands,  they 
will  not  fail,  by  the  just  exercise  of  those  rights  which  are  guaranteed  to 
them  by  our  Constitution  and  laws,  to  displace  those  now  in  power,  and  fill 
their  places  with  those  who  will  execute  the  trust  with  greater  fidelity.  Our 
country,  more  than  that  of  any  other  in  the  world,  has  all  the  elements  of 
true  independence  within  itself;  and  if  Government  will  only  pursue  a  proper 
policy,  so  as  to  improve  all  our  advantages,  and  keep  us  a  contented  and 
united  people,  we  may  bid  defiance  to  the  united  efforts  of  all  the  pow- 
ers of  the  world  combined  against  us.  By  making  your  people  prosperous 
and  happy  in  time  of  peace,  you  place  them  in  a  proper  condition  to  endure 
the  burdens  which  a  state  of  hostilities  necessarily  inflicts.  By  enabling  the 
States  to  pay  their  indebtedness  to  foreign  countries,  you  will  re-establisli 
your  credit  in  those  countries,  and  then  you  can  command  money  whenever 
you  want  it;  and  this  is  the  only  way  in  which  you  ought  to  make  provision 
in  time  of  peace  for  money  to  carry  on  a  war — that  is,  by  placing  your 
citizens  in  such  circumstances  as  will  enable  them  to  contribute  liberally  and 
punctually  in  the  shape  of  taxes,  when  necessary,  and  by  establishing  the 
credit  of  the  National  Government,  so  that  you  can  obtain  the*  aid  of  other 
nations  by  the  negotiation  of  loans. 

There  is,  sir,  another  mode  of  carrying  out  this  maxim,  of  providing  for 
war  in  time  of  peace,  which  I  will  advert  to  in  a  few  words,  though  it 
has  been  referred  to  by  other  gentlemen;  it  is  this,  the  resources  of  the  Gov- 
ernment ought,  in  time  of  peace,  to  be  employed  in  the  construction  of  im- 
provements that  would  be  beneficial  to  its  citizens,  during  the  continuance 
of  that  happy  condition  which  it  ought  to  be  the  pride  and  ambition  of  all 
rulers  to  secure  for  this  country.  This  could  be  done  by  facilitating  the 
means  of  intercourse,  and  strengthening  and  extending  the  commercial  rela- 
tions between  different  and  remote  sections  of  the  country.  Thus  binding 
them  together  by  the  strong  ligaments  of  mutual  interest,  social  harmony, 
and  sympathetic  feeling,  and  securing  them  from  the  baleful  influence  of 
selfishness,  envy,  and  jealousy  of  each  other's  power  and  prosperity.  The 
improvements  which  I  allude  to,  are  McAdamized  roads,  railroads,  canals, 
improvement  of  rivers  and  harbors,  bridges  over  large  streams,  convenient 
mail  routes,  and  such  like  things.  Any  improvement,  the  utility  of  which 
will  be  worth  to  the  people  in  time  of  peace  the  interest  upon  the  cost,  and 
be  subservient  to  the  national  defence  in  time  of  war.  In  expending  the 


10 

resources  of  the  Government  in  this  way,  you  secure  a  two-fold  advantage  t 
First.  Your  money  is  invested  in  improvements  that  confer  immense  and  al- 
most incalculable  advantages  upon  your  citizens ,  and  at  the  same  time  yields  a 
revenue  adequate  to  the  annual  repairs,  and  thus  keeps  itself  always  in  proper 
condition.  Secondly.  In  the  facilities  which  those  improvements  afford  to 
the  Government  in  time  of  war,  in  the  transportation  of  troops,  ordnance ? 
provisions,  military  stores,  and  camp  equipage,  from  one  point  to  another, 
you  will  save  more  in  many  instances  than  the  original  cost  of  the  work, 
independent  of  the  consideration,  that  by  the  aid  of  those  facilities  of  inter- 
communication one  thousand  men  will  be  able  to  defend  your  seaboard 
more  effectually  than  three  times  the  number  could  have  done  forty  years 
ago. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  how  are  all  those  desirable  objects  to  be  attained? 
Sir,  by  rejecting  the  bill  on  your  table,  arid  leaving  the  tariff  of  '42  stand  as 
it  is  ;  and  that  is  the  only  way  in  which  this  can  be  effected. 

This  is,  fortunately  for  my  argument,  no  new  theory,  no  untried  vision- 
ary scheme.  The  experience  of  the  past  exhibits  a  prosperity  under  our 
protective  system  unexampled  in  the  history  of  the  world.  What  has  been 
the  situation  of  the  country,  when  the  duties  were  so  low  as  to  afford  inad- 
equate protection  to  our  domestic  manufactures?  What  was  the  condition 
of  the  country  five  years  ago,  before  the  passage  of  the  tariff  of  1842^ 
which  is  now  sought  to  be  repealed  ?  Who  does  not  recollect  it  ?  There  is 
not  a  man  within  the  sound  of  my  voice,  who  has  paid  any  attention  to 
what  was  going  on  around  him,  that  don't  remember  the  gloom  that  per- 
vaded the  whole  community  at  that  time.  Was  not  the  country  suffering 
and  laboring  under  all  the  disadvantages  and  difficulties  that  I  have  been 
endeavoring  to  describe,  and  which  were  so  eloquently  portrayed  by  my 
friend  from  Kentucky,  (Dr.  YOUNG.)  a  few  days  ago?  Your  furnaces^ 
forges,  bloomeries,  and  factories,  were  then  standing  still  ;  and  the  thou- 
sands of  active  and  industrious  operatives,  that  are  now  so  happily  and  sedu- 
lously engaged  in  attending  to  those  establishments,  were  then  destitute  of 
employment.  Business  was  paralyzed  ;  produce,  not  only  low  in*price7 
but  in  many  places  almost  unsaleable  at  any  price.  The  value  of  real  es- 
tate depreciated,  and  pecuniary  embarrassment,  distrust  and  wretchedness, 
pervading  the  whole  community;  and  not  only  individuals,  but  States  re- 
duced to  the  verge  of  hopeless  bankruptcy.  Contrast  the  condition  of  the 
country  then,  with  that  which  it  exhibits  now,  and  see  whether  you  don't 
find  the  confirmation  of  what  I  have  stated . 

Soon  after  the  passage  of  the  tariff  bill  of  1842,  business  began  to  revive. 
The  sound  of  the  anvil  and  the  shuttle  again  reverberates  through  what  had 
been  tenantless  and  desolate  habitations.  The  hum  of  business,  the  clang- 
or of  industry,  and  the  clanking  of  machinery  was  every  where  heard,  like 
the  carolling  of  the  feathered  songsters  welcoming  the  genial  return  of  spring- 
after  a  severe  and  dreary  winter  ;  enlivening  and  animating  the  whole  face 
of  nature,  and  diffusing  contentment  and  happiness  throughout  the  whole 
extent  of  your  wide  spread  territory.  Buildings  sprang  up,  as  if  by  magic - 
the  wilderness  was  literally  made  to  blossom  as  the  rose.  Minerals  that  had 
lain  dormant  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  since  the  time  of  the  creation,  were 
hoisted  from  the  dark  caverns  in  which  nature  had  deposited  them,  taken 
to  your  laboratories,,  and  converted  into  gold,  or,  what  is  better,  into  bread „ 


11 

Not  by  the  fancied  process  of  the  dreaming  alchymist,  but  by  the  more 
certain  and  effectual  development  of  art,  of  science,  and  of  protected  industry. 

But  our  brethren  of  the  South  imagine  that  the  blessings  thus  conferred 
on  our  prosperous  country  are  purchased  at  their  expense.  Sir,  I  appre- 
hend that  they  have  not  taken  a  correct  and  impartial  view  of  this  interest- 
ing subject.  They  are  laboring  under  some  strange  delusion,  some  capti- 
vating erroneous  theory,  that  prevents  them  from  taking  that  calm,  philo- 
sophic, and  enlightened  view  of  this  subject,  which  they  so  uniformly  ex- 
ercise upon  every  other.  Let  them  investigate  it  fully  and  fairly — let  them 
bring  to  the  aid  qf  their  judgment  the  recollections  of  the  past,  and  exam- 
ine the  condition  "of  the  present,  and  they  cannot  avoid  the  conclusion,  for 
it  is  sustained  by  incontrovertible  facts,  that  every  article  which  they  pur- 
chase, and  which  has  been  protected  for  a  number  of  years,  comes  to  them 
cheaper  now  than  it  did  before  the  protective  system  was  adopted.  But 
even  if  this  were  not  the  case,  we  might  appeal  to  their  patriotism,  and  ask 
whether  they  are  not  willing  to  endure  some  inconvenience,  for  the  purpose 
of  establishing  the  true  independence  of  their  country  upon  a  sure  and 
permanent  basis. 

Permit  me  now,  sir,  to  say  a  few  words  in  reply  to  some  of  the  arguments 
of  gentlemen  on  the  opposite  side  of  this  question.  They  charge  us  with 
inconsistency,  and  efforts  are  made  to  invalidate  our  arguments,  because  we 
advocate  a  cause  that  gentlemen  suppose  would  operate  against  our  own  in- 
terest ;  as  if  gentlemen  acting  in  the  high  and  honorable  capacity  of  legis- 
lators, could  not  rise  above  the  grovelling  motives  of  sordid  interest  and  sel- 
fish views.  Do  those  gentlemen  wish  us  to  estimate  their  patriotism  and 
their  disinterestedness  by  the  same  measure  which  they  mete  unto  us?  We 
do  not  claim  greater  perfection  than  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  frail  human- 
ity, and  make  no  professions  of  sacrifices  inconsistent  with  a  reasonable  re- 
gard to  our  own  interests.  Gentlemen,  however,  labor  under  a  great  mis- 
apprehension, when  they  set  down  as  manufacturers,  and  the  advocates  of 
the  exclusive  manufacturing  interest,  all  those  who  are  in  favor  of  the  pro- 
tective system;  this  mistake  in  the  premises  leads  to  still  greater  errors  in, 
the  conclusions;  and  hence  they  are  unable  to  see  how  it  is  that  the  manu- 
facturers, as  they  call  them,  are  such  strenuous  advocates  of  a  policy  which 
they  allege  is  calculated  to  diminish  their  own  profits.  Sir,  many  of  those 
who  are  the  most  unflinching  advocates  of  the  protective  policy ,  are  not  par- 
ticularly identified  with  the  manufacturers,  except  so  far  as  the  prosperity  of 
those  establishments  conduce  to  the  general  prosperity  of  the  whole  country. 

The  district  which  has  given  me  the  honor  of  holding  a  seat  upon  this 
floor,  is  emphatically  an  agricultural  district,  and  raises  more  agricultural 
productions  than  any  other  in  the  State  wherein  it  is  located  ;  and  is,  per- 
haps, not  inferior  to  any  of  the  same  extent  in  the  United  States.  It  is  our 
interest,  then,  that  the  manufactured  articles  should  be  reduced  to  the  low- 
est price  for  which  they  can  be  made  in  this  country.  We  have  no  desire 
to  see  the  manufacturers  realizing  a  profit  of  thirty,  or  twenty-five,  or  even 
fifteen  per  cent.,  whilst  we,  as  agriculturists,  cannot  by  the  cultivation  of 
our  lands  realize  more  than  four  or  iive  per  cent,  on  the  capital  invested; 
and  very  often  not  that  much.  Nor  do  we  believe  that  the  manufacturing- 
business  is  so  profitable  as  those  who  advocate  this  bill  assert  it  to  be.  If 
we  could  be  persuaded  that  those  calculations  of  the  anti-protectionists  are 


12 

correct,  we  should  not  hesitate  to  sell  our  lands,  and  embark  in  those  high- 
ly profitable  pursuits. 

The  calculations  which  produce  the  results  on  which  gentlemen  place  so 
much  reliance  here,  are  founded  upon  erroneous  data.  Many  of  the  man- 
ufacturing establishments,  that  are  now  doing  a  fair,  perhaps  a  profitable 
business,  have  been  purchased  during  some  of  those  revulsions  which  your 
unstable,  fluctuating  policy  has  so  frequently  produced,  at  great  sacrifices; 
in  many  instances  for  less  than  one-fourth  of  the  original  value.  I  know, 
sir,  an  instance  in  the  county  in  which  I  reside,  where  a  factory  was  erected 
by  a  company,  which,  together  with  the  machinery  and  the  buildings  ne- 
cessary for  the  workmen,  cost  some  fifty  or  sixty  thousand  dollars,  perhaps 
more.  In  a  few  years  the  company  failed,  and  the  whole  investment  was 
almost  a  total  loss.  It  was  purchased,  at  a  very  reduced  price,  by  an  iridi- 
Tidual,  who,  after  carrying  it  on  for  a  number  of  years,  also  failed,  leaving 
his  creditors  to  pay  for  his  experience  in  this  enviably  profitable  business  of 
manufacturing.  Within  the  last  three  years  this  same  property  was  sold  for 
some  $7,000,  if  my  recollection  serves  me  right;  and  the  last  purchaser  has 
since  been  offered  $3,000  profit,  making  more  than  forty  per  cent,  on  his 
investment,  and  refused  to  take  it.  Is  it  fair,  then,  to  argue,  that,  because 
this  man  refused  an  advantageous  offer,  under  peculiar  circumstances,  that 
Kiay  not  occur  again  in  an  age  to  come;  is  it  fair,  I  ask  again,  to  infer  from 
that,  that  the  business  is  highly  profitable,  when  those  who  preceded  him 
have  failed  entirely,  and  when  from  sixty  to  eighty  thousand  dollars  have 
been  sunk  and  sacrificed  in  this  very  establishment?  This  is  the  way,  sir, 
in  which  these  enormous  profits  are  calculated,  when  the  people  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  those  establishments,  who  have  had  an  opportunity  of  forming  ac- 
curate judgments  on  those  interesting  cases,  know  them  to  be  false  and  de- 
lusive in  the  extreme. 

Sir,  those  strong  cases  make  bad  precedents;  and,  if  any  one  would  take 
the  trouble  to  search  for  them,  cases  equally  strong,  and  perhaps  equally  de- 
lusive, might  be  found  in  agricultural  pursuits.  I  have  been  told  of  a  far- 
mer who  went  to  the  western  prairies  and  took  up  a  hundred  acres  of  land, 
at  the  Government  price,  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  acre.  He  went  to  work, 
had  the  whole  broken  up  with  the  plough,  and  seeded  with  wheat;  and  the 
crop  thus  produced,  not  only  paid  for  all  the  labor  and  expense,  but  enabled 
him  to  pay  for  his  land,  and  had  a  considerable  sum  left;  while  at  the  same 
time  his  land  was  worth  three  times  as  much  as  when  he  commenced.  Here, 
then,  was  a  profit  of  300  per  cent,  in  the  depressed  and  over-taxed  pursuit 
of  agriculture;  and  yet  we  are  asked  by  gentlemen  from  the  West  to  relieve 
them  from  the  onerous  burdens  inflicted  on  them  by  this  black  tariff.  I  have 
only  adverted  to  this  to  show  that  isolated  cases,  under  peculiar  circum- 
stances, form  very  fallacious  precedents  upon  which  to  found  general  prin- 
ciples. The  calculations  which  gentlemen  rely  upon  to  sustain  their  argu- 
ments are  frequently  made  by  persons  not  fully  acquainted  with  all  the  facts 
connected  with  the  case,  and  in  this  way  results  are  obtained  that  have  no 
foundation  in  facts. 

The  honorable  gentlemen  from  North  Carolina,  (Mr.  BIGGS,)  who  ad- 
dressed the  committee  on  yesterday,  told  us  that  "  moderate  and  permanent 
protection  is  all  that  manufacturers  ought  to  ask,  and  that  is  what  a  revenue 
.tariff  gives."  I  agree,  sir,  that  moderate  and  permanent  protection  is  ail 


13 

that  manufacturers  ought  to  ask,  but  he  and  I  difYer  in  opinion  in  regard  to 
what  kind  of  a  tariff  will  best  effect  the  object  which  we  both  have  in  view, 
1  believe  that  the  present  tariff  affords  such  protection  as  gives  proper  en- 
couragement to  manufacturers;  without  affording  them  more  than  a  reasona- 
ble profit.  Calculations  of  profit,  made  by  men  not  themselves  engaged  in 
the  business,  and  who  have  no  practical  knowledge  of  the  difficulties  which 
had  to  be  encountered,  are  at  once  adopted  as  being  undeniably  true,  and 
relied  on  as  arguments  in  favor  of  reducing  the  tariff.  This,  sir,  is  a  great 
mistake;  the  immense  profits  supposed  to  be  realized  by  the  manufacturers 
are  only  to  be  found  in  the  erroneous  calculations  made  by  misguided  theo- 
.  rists.  The  manufacturers,  on  an  average,  realize  no  greater  profit  than  is 
generally  enjoyed  by  others  of  our  citizens  who  are  engaged  in  other 
branches  of  business.  The  tariff,  as  it  is,  affords  a  reasonable  protection, 
and  ensures  to  the  manufacturer  a  moderate  remuneration,  and  no  more. 
Do  gentlemen  expect  to  establish  permanent  protection  by  a  revenue 
tariff?  The  amount  of  revenue  is  regulated  by  the  wants  of  the  Trea- 
sury, and  is  subject  to  diminution  or  increase,  according  as  the  action 
of  the  Government  is  piofuse  or  economical;  and,  consequently,  there  is  no 
stability  about  it.  We  now  find  ourselves  in  a  state  of  war,  and  the  expenses 
of  Government  during  the  ensuing  year  must  necessarily  be  increased;  and, 
therefore,  the  tariff  must  be  changed  to  meet  those  additional  expenses. 
Next  year,  if  peace  should  be  restored,  as  I  hope  it  may  be,  we  must  have 
another  change  to  accommodate  the  tariff  to  the  wants  of  the  Treasury.  It 
is  expected  by  many  that  the  war  will  soon  be  brought  to  a  close;  the  Exe- 
cutive, I  understand,  has  expressed  a  belief  that  peace  would  be  concluded 
before  the  expiration  of  sixty  days;  I  shall  be  pleased  to  see  it;  but  if  peace 
were  declared  to-morrow,  we  shall  have  incurred  a  great^ expense  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  war,  and  will  find  it  necessary  to  provide  for  those  ex- 
penses. No,  sir,  an  ever-changing,  uncertain,  shifting  revenue  tariff,  will 
be  more  pernicious  to  the  manufacturing  interest  than  any  other.  Men  who 
were  about  to  abandon  their  usual  pursuits  and  enter  into  new,  and ,  to  them, 
untried  branches  of  business,  if  possessed  of  an  ordinary  degree  of  pru- 
dence, would  like  to  make  some  calculations  as  regards  their  prospects  of 
success.  But  with  your  unsettled,  vacillating  policy,  what  data  had  they  to 
depend  on?  None  whatever.  A  policy  that  so  vitally  affects  the  interests 
of  the  whole  community  should  not  be  changed  hastily  or  inconsiderately. 
The  people  have  a  right  to  expect,  and  will  demand  at  your  hands,  that  a 
policy  that  has  worked  so  well,  and  been  productive  of  so  much  good,  shall 
be  left  undisturbed.  "Let  well  enough  alone,"  is  the  old  maxim,  and  will 
hold  good  for  Government  as  well  as  for  individuals. 

Gentlemen  possess  a  very  strong  sympathy  for  the  operatives  in  our  facto- 
ries, whom  they  seem  to  consider  as  objects  of  their  profound  compassion, 
the  innocent  victims  of  avarice  and  oppression.  But  let  them  go  to  the  spot 
where  those  fancied  oppressions  are  exercised;  let  them  visit  and  examine 
those  men  at  their  homes,  and  look  into  their  condition,  and  witness  the  neat- 
ness and  comfort  of  their  dwellings,  and  the  order  that  prevails  around  them, 
and  they  will  discover  that  a  more  intelligent,  more  cheerful,  better  fed, 
better  clothed,  and  more  contented  class  of  men  is  not  to  be  found  in  this 
country. 


14 

Mr.  Chairman,  the  State  represented  by  myself  and  colleagues  on  this 
floor,  is,  perhaps,  more  deeply  interested  in  this  question  than  any  other,  for 
though  our  manufactures  are  fewer  in  proportion  to  the  whole  population 
than  some  others,  yet  those  manufactures  are  very  important,  and  more  de- 
pendant on  protection  than  most  others.  Several  of  her  representatives  have 
already  spoken,  others  are  desirous  of  addressing  the  committee,  and,  I  hope, 
may  have  the  opportunity  of  doing  so.  Having  briefly  stated  my  views,  I 
shall  no  longer  occupy  the  attention  of  the  committee. 


GAYLAMOUNT 

PAMPHLET  BINDER 

<^ 

Manufactured  by 

GAYLORD  BROS.  Inc. 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

Stockton,  Calif. 


YC  05895 


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